This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Young, premenopausal women with heart disease have twice the rate of death related to coronary events when compared to age matched men. Animal experiments have shown that reproductive monkeys when exposed to stress develop central (hypothalamic) amenorrhea leading to estrogen deficiency. These monkeys subsequently were noted to develop premature coronary artery disease. We want to study this relationship in premenopausal women to further evaluate a possible link between estrogen deficiency and coronary artery disease.